Pages

March 02, 2014

US Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013

Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013- IRAN

Part
of this report about Mr. kazemini boroujerdi is given as follow: On December
19, an associate of dissident cleric and regime critic Ayatollah Hossein
Kazemeini Boroujerdi reported that Boroujerdi continued to suffer from poor
health and harsh prison conditions while being denied medical care. The
associate further reported that authorities subjected Boroujerdi to torture and
threatened his family to compel him to write a letter saying he did not wish to
meet with visiting European representatives. In October 2012 Boroujerdi was
allegedly poisoned by unnamed fellow prisoners, leaving him in critical
condition. Boroujerdi, who advocated the separation of religion and government,
was arrested in 2006.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The
Islamic Republic of Iran is a theocratic republic established after the 1979
adoption of a constitution by popular referendum. The constitution, amended in
1989, created a political system based on the concept in Shia Islam of
velayat-e faqih (“guardianship of the jurist” or “rule by the jurisprudent”).
Shia clergy, most notably the “supreme jurisprudent” (or supreme leader), and
political leaders vetted by the clergy-dominated key power structures. While
mechanisms for popular election exist within the structure of the state, the
supreme leader directly controlled the legislative, executive, and judicial
branches of government as well as the armed forces. The supreme leader also
indirectly controlled internal security forces and other key institutions.
Since 1989 the supreme leader has been Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Despite high
popular participation in the country’s June 14 presidential election, candidate
vetting conducted by unelected bodies based on arbitrary criteria, as well as
limitations on civil society, print and electronic media, and election
monitoring by credible nongovernmental observers, continued to undermine the
freedom and fairness of the electoral system. Authorities maintained effective
control over the security forces. Security forces frequently committed human
rights abuses.

The
most egregious human rights problems were the government’s manipulation of the
electoral process, which severely limited citizens’ right to change their
government peacefully through free and fair elections; restrictions on civil
liberties, including the freedoms of assembly, speech, and press; and disregard
for the physical integrity of persons whom it arbitrarily and unlawfully
detained, tortured, or killed.